DETROIT, Michigan—Mayor John B. O’Reilly of the City of Dearborn, Michigan, and his wife Christina, attended the Divine Performing Arts show at the Ford Community and Performing Arts Center, a facility Mayor O’Reilly’s government was instrumental in building.
Dearborn is home to people of more than 80 different nationalities, cultures and ethnicities, so Mayor O’Reilly and his wife were open to learning about traditional Chinese culture.
“We really loved it, it was a great show,” Mayor O’Reilly told reporters. “I really appreciated the diversity, even within the performance; in terms of, how culturally diverse China is and how it’s displayed in so many ways, and the narratives helped everyone in the audience understand the nature of what we were seeing, and what the relationship was between the dance, or the song, and what was the historical significance.”
Mayor and Mrs. O’Reilly appreciated the rich story lines underlying the different dances, and the spiritual messages of some of the vocal works.
“I know there was a great spiritual influence here, and I thought that it came through, certainly in the singing—all three, the baritone, soprano, and tenor, all sang beautifully, and had a great spiritual message; I thought that was really very poignant. I really enjoyed those performances.”
Mayor O’Reilly delved further into what he learned from the stories the different performances told. As he put it, the messages included, “… the renewal of life, and the duty to go beyond the normal daily activities and look beyond that, and find ourselves. In the songs that message was very clear, in the dances, the stories that went with them—the responsibility we have to others, all of those things really were well portrayed. There were the modern stories mixed with the historically significant stories—so we had a beautiful blending of the old with the new. And I thought it was really well done.”
“And then the dance was just spectacular,’ he continued. “It was a treat for the eyes, the ears, everything; it was a very moving performance.”
Mayor O’Reilly had high praise for the integration of the computer-generated backdrop and the dancing: “The use of the animation, and the screen, and how the animation and the real characters played into each other was really beautiful staging, was really well done. It is something we don’t see a lot, at least not here.
“And I was very proud, the way that it was done, it was so dramatic, and it had such scope. It took up the entire space, and it just filled your eyes.”
The Mayor explained that the Divine Performing Arts show was exactly what he had hoped would play in the Ford Performing Arts Center theater.
”When we designed this theatre—when we decided to build this theatre—we decided to bring culture from all over the world, that was one of our plans, was to really try and get international performances. Expose everybody in our community to all a range of cultural experience, and this really brought a wonderful, unique experience to our community.
“I’m so proud that it was here in our community, that people around us can share in this experience. I love the the spirituality, and the sheer beauty of it. I can’t remember the flower that Buddha had said every 3000 years it blossoms—that dance, it was just so beautiful; it was gorgeous. (“The Udumbara’s Bloom”.) Matching the image with the flower on the screen with the dancers, and how they became that blossom, became that flower—and that was one of the most beautiful things I’ve seen.”
Mrs. O’Reilly also spoke highly of the performances.
“The spectacle of it, the color, the music, the dance—the whole multimedia kind of spectacle of it, was incredible. And I think the thing that made it unique for me was that sense—I read a comment in the program book, and it talked about spirituality and goodness—and I think that rang through, and that’s what made it very unique for me in watching it.”
Mrs. O’Reilly felt that the messages of traditional Chinese values came through clearly in the dances as well as the vocal pieces.
“Obviously it was more apparent when you could read the words the singers were singing, and that offered it, but I think each piece offered some spirituality, and certainly goodness. And I think you cannot leave without feeling good. And that’s uplifting. Hope. That was the message, and I think that’s what you come away with.
Mayor and Mrs. O’Reilly were touched deeply by a few numbers concerning the persecution of Falun Gong practitioners by the Chinese communist regime.
Mayor O’Reilly said, “There was that sense of not having religious freedom, which of course in the United States; we have a very strong sense of religious freedom. That’s fundamental to everything we do, it’s fundamental to our constitution, and it’s that idea that, spirituality is personal, everyone should be able to follow their beliefs, everyone should be able to pursue their beliefs, because that’s what’s genuine, that’s what’s real.
“So, again, I think that—without getting too political—certainly I am glad that here we recognize that people have to be able to follow their own spiritual sense, they have to be able to follow their sense of God, and the relationship with God, and be able to pursue that, and I’m hoping that the rest of the world will find that too.
He continued: “I mean, it’s not easy, it’s challenging—some people get scared of things they don’t understand, but it’s wonderful if the whole world can embrace the idea that people should be free to pursue their beliefs, and the things they feel make them better, and help them make a better world.
Mayor and Mrs. O’Reilly discussed the final number, “Knowing the true Picture offers Ultimate Hope.”
“I just think that was wrapping everything up with the old and the new. We had the historical figures that were part of the religion, and the stories that were told, then we had the modern idea of people still fighting to have that freedom to practice their beliefs, and to follow their own spiritual life, so I thought that was a wonderful mix, and it all came together at the end when we saw everyone on stage together,’ Mayor O’Reilly told an Epoch Times reporter.
Mrs. O’Reilly agreed. “I think the wonderful thing about it, it just ties in, it’s a wonderful way to end our old year and begin our new year here, given the timing of it. I think it was wonderful, that message of hopeHere in the United States, that’s our message for the next year, and I think that last piece resonated that, and I think it was just perfect for this time of year for us.”
When asked if the couple planned to see the show again next year if it came back to Dearborn, Mayor O’Reilly replied, “I sure hope you do. That’s why we built this; we wanted this theatre to attract some of these great performances like we saw tonight: so our community could be enriched, so they can share in these experiences, and grow with them.
“So this is wonderful, it was great for our city, and great for the people who live here.”
